Radožda ( mk, Радожда ) is a village in the Struga municipality in the southwestern region of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Geography

Radožda is situated on the western shore of the

Ohrid Lake Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one o ...

. It is south of the town

Struga Struga ( mk, Струга , sq, Strugë) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The n ...

. It is from the Macedonian-Albanian border crossing Qafë Thanë. The closest village is the village of Lin which is situated in Albania. The village is situated at above sea level.

History

The village was founded on the western edge of the Ohrid Lake over ten centuries ago. It was founded in a fertile area which soon became accustomed to farming. The surrounding hinterland was suitable for

small-scale agriculture A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

and the area was settled. The village was founded approximately west of today's position.

Etymology

A document from the era of Tsar

Stefan Dušan Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан, ), known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr, / ; circa 1308 – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Tsar (or Emperor) and autocrat of the Serbs, Gre ...

has the village listed under the name ''Radobužda'' (). An Ottoman document from the year 1583 also records the village but under a different name ''Radohožda'' () while a hand written document from the Serbian

Branislav Nušić Branislav Nušić ( sr-cyr, Бранислав Нушић, ; – 19 January 1938) was a Serbian playwright, satirist, essayist, novelist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant. Life Br ...

has the village listed as ''Radooždž'' () while Austrian-Hungarian maps have the village listed as ''Radoliožda'', () or ''Radohožda'' ().

Saint Archangel Michael

The Church Saint Archangel Michael was built in the Jablanica mountain range above the village of Radožda in the 13th century. It was built in a natural cave and was dedicated to the military commander of the Bodiless Army - the Archangel Michael. Most of the frescoes date from the 14th century with one preserved from the 13th century. The cave church was repainted in the 14th thus removing many of the old frescoes. The top layer of painting in the church was the last accomplishment of the Ohrid Fine Art School from the 14th century.http://www.soros.org.mk/konkurs/008/svetiAM-e.htm

Demography

The 2002 census counted 808 people present in the village. Many of these residents were elderly as much of the current generation have left the village due to work and other reasons. The village is populated by

ethnic Macedonians Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identi ...

Village festivals

The Village does not have any long standing traditions but there are some traditions specific to the village. For Easter the villagers gather and go to all of Radožda's seven churches, the women trade dyed eggs, the villages light candles and they pray to god. On 2 August the village celebrates Ilinden. The villages gather at the St Ilija Church and they trade holy bread, holy water while the villagers celebrate the glorious day. The whole village turns out to celebrate the event. For the feast of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

on 28 August the whole village waits for guests from all over the Struga and Ohrid areas. This is the biggest holy day in Radožda.

Notable people

Nikola Šećeroski Nikola Šećeroski ( sr-cyr, Никола Шећероски; 1934–2008) was a candidate for the Serbian Presidency, running in December 1990 as an independent. Early life He was born in 1934 to a Macedonian Serb family in Radožda, a village on ...

(''1934-2008'') Radozda

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radozda Villages in Struga Municipality